Mediacaster Magazine reports that LG, Panasonic, NEC, Samsung, SiBEAM, Sony and Toshiba are working together on a new special interest group (SIG) called Wireless HD.

The aim, according to the article, is to "develop a wireless high-definition digital interface (WirelessHD or WiHD) to enable high-definition audio/video (A/V) streaming and high-speed content transmission for consumer electronics (CE) devices."

The hope is to complete the specifications for WirelessHD, which will operate at 60 GHz, by the spring of 2007.

"Emerging as the first consumer electronics industry initiative for wireless uncompressed digital video transmission, WirelessHD will provide consumers wireless flexibility and ease of use while preserving the benefits traditionally associated with popular wired alternatives for point-to-point display, such as HDMI and DVI," says In-Stat analyst Brian O'Rourke. "The data rates (or bandwidth) that WirelessHD will support are truly impressive."

ExtremeTech's Mark Hachman says the announcement "comes as a significant blow for ultrawideband, which has also been trying to penetrate the HD wireless content space."

John Marshall, chair of the WirelessHD consortium, says WirelessHD is filling a gap that UWB doesn't reach. "Ultrawideband has switched its focus over the years," he says. "Initially, they focused on Wireless USB, then it moved on to PC-to-peripheral. Today, it has evolved to address mainly Wireless PANs (Personal Area Networks). We see WirelessHD as more of a multi-tiered solution for wireless data transmission."

Still, Wi-Fi Networking News' Glenn Fleishman says he isn't holding his breath. "If UWB gains the expected traction in 2007 that is now anticipated, and it starts appearing widely in mid-to-high-end consumer electronics -- especially HDTV sets -- then WirelessHD has to deliver something pretty remarkable, or be positioned as an evolutionary technology," he writes. "Meanwhile, the UWB standard from WiMedia will increase in speed during the same period, with some firms already showing 1 Gbps UWB using non-standard implementations."

The WirelessHD press release is here.